Demonstration Papers
There is a general lack of research and writing about the Territorial Period in the history of Hawai'i, particularly the period between Annexation and the Depression (1898-1931). A critical examination of these years reveals the ways in which Euroamerican domination and control of the Islands were consolidated. This was done through the creation of bureaucratic structures and institutions, such as the University of Hawai'i, the mobilization of technology which regulated garbage pick up, sewage management, and agricultural production. The lives and bodies of individuals were also brought into conformity with American values. Corrections institutions, hospitals, and schools asserted Euroamercian hegemony through the standardization of social practices.
The following are abstracts of larger on-going research projects. Each paper is focused on some theme or social practice in the early Territorial period and have in common a concern with social control, literally or figuratively. The papers also serve to broaden our knowledge and understanding about the urban Native Hawaiian community in Honolulu. Too often writing about this era is focused narrowly on the plantations and the advancement of immigrant communites. Native Hawaiian culture is at the center of our most basic understandings of "local culture" but research about this community and its interactions with other ethnic communities in an urban setting is lacking.